As part of Operation Globo (‘Balloon’), officers from the Customs Surveillance Unit in Malaga and the National Police’s Special Team for Combating Drugs and Organised Crime on the Costa del Sol (Udyco) have carried out several operations in which they identified three organisations specialising in the bulk sale of nitrous oxide (also known as ‘laughing gas’). During the police raids, six people were arrested and 4,200 kilos of the gas were seized.

The investigation began in May and, according to an official police statement, led to the location of three illegal warehouses where the gas cylinders were stored.

The three raids took place between June and July and resulted in the seizure of 4,139 bottles of nitrous oxide. The raids took place in the Costa del Sol towns of Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Marbella.

During these raids, six people responsible for the logistics of transporting the goods to Spain and then distributing them throughout the country were arrested. Balloons and nozzles for inhaling the gas were also confiscated.

The weight of the seized substances is over 4,200 kilos, which corresponds to a volume of more than three million litres of this gas. The total value of the seized substances is estimated at around 300,000 euros. Legal proceedings are currently underway in the courts of Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Marbella.

Risk of serious health problems and even death

Nitrous oxide is a volatile, colorless gas and is used as a medicine under strict medical supervision. It is also one of the few illegal drugs that exists in a gaseous state. When inhaled, it expands in the lungs and enters the brain via the respiratory tract. It has a depressant effect on the central nervous system and causes euphoria and even hallucinations.

The medication is taken by inhaling the gas in a balloon that serves as a reservoir for the individual doses to be administered. Each dose costs around ten euros.

The Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps) estimates that non-medical use poses health risks as it damages the central nervous system and lungs of an otherwise healthy body. In addition, it can lead to other, more serious health problems and even death.